Re: Peculiar Word Order

From: George Blaisdell (maqhth@hotmail.com)
Date: Sat Apr 24 1999 - 10:52:35 EDT


>From: "Moon"

>Recently I encountered two sentences whose word order I could not
>understand. Lk 7:40: ECW SOI TI EIPEIN ( I have something to tell

you]
>Heb 2:8b: NUN DE OUPW ORAMEN AUTWi TA PANTA hUPOTETAGMENA
>(We are not yet seeing everything having been subjected to him]
>
>Logically speaking, I thought the object of ECW is TI
>and the object of ORAMEN is TA PANTA.

It is...
                                                                    
>But the verbs and the objects are separated by
>datives SOI and AUTWi, respectively. I wondered why they did not
>write as ECW TI EIPEIN SOI. Similarly why not
> NUN DE OUPW ORAMEN TA PANTA hUPOTETAGMENA AUTWi?
>
>Does ECW SOI TI EIPEIN intend to convey a similar thing as
> "I have something to tell YOU", where YOU is stressed?

Perhaps the key here is the principle of "enclosure" in Greek word
order. ECW EIPEIN encloses SOI TI, thereby emphasizing it [SOI TI].

ECW TI EIPEIN SOI would have ECW SOI enclosing TI EIPEIN, thus
emphasizing TI EIPEIN. [and so on...]

Likwise with AUTWi in Heb., which is enclosed by the whole sentence,
being in the middle of it. Carl's chiastic observations are exactly
on point....
 
>When the sentence in question is SOI TI EIPEIN, I can understand it.
>But when it is embedded as an object of a verb, I do not understand
>what is going on in ECW SOI TI EIPEIN.
>
>I guess I am missing something about Greek word order.

It is not fixed as in English, but has a fluidity that follows the
thought process of its user, working outward from centers that are
enclosed.

 
George Blaisdell
Roslyn, WA

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